Pages

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Autism Acceptance Month starts today! Autism acceptance month is an autistic-led movement "about treating autistic
people with respect, listening to what we have to say about ourselves,
and making us welcome in the world." Here are some ways you can observe Autism Acceptance Month:

Autism Acceptance Campaigns and Projects

[image description: a pyramid of three rainbow asterisk stars, to the left of the words
"I signed the pledge! Acceptance is an action. Autism Acceptance Month.]

"April is Autism Acceptance Month. During Autism Acceptance Month, we
focus on sharing positive, respectful, and accurate information about
autism and autistic people.

"Autism Acceptance Month promotes acceptance and celebration of
autistic people as family members, friends, classmates, co-workers, and
community members making valuable contributions to our world. Autism is a
natural variation of the human experience, and we can all create a
world which values, includes, and celebrates all kinds of minds.

"You probably know an autistic person already. Get to know us a little bit better."

Other ASAN April actions

ASAN will be using #AcceptanceIs in April for various projects and conversations. Feel free to join the tag!

"AAD has been an ongoing event since 2011. ACCEPTANCE, not
"tolerance," not "I accept you but not your autism." Pro-neurodiversity,
pro-supports and services, against "cures," AAD was started to counter
April "awareness" stunts that demean us. It has expanded to become a way
of viewing Autism in a positive and accepting way. autismacceptanceday.blogspot.com"

Specifically: "...the lack of awareness regarding
education to Communities of Color related to Special Needs. Not only
were there not many communities speaking about Autism, most national
organizations did not discuss talking about Autism to Communities of
Color. The lack of "awareness" of people of color is apparent in
reviewing the lack of diversity in organization boards, campaigns and
outreach goals.

"Does that mean that we don't understand the importance of "Autism Acceptance?" Not at all.

"Because
there are few national campaigns such as this one, where the emphasis
is on #AutisticFamiliesofColor, the Mocha Autism Network decided to
start from the very beginning, to help our communities learn about
Autism and its traits, accept them in our community and gain the
resources to assist our communities wholistically. And we're getting
there. When this organization was conceived in late 2013, there weren't
very many talks of diversity in Autism Awareness."

"April is, of course, Autism Awareness Month. During a month
like this, in a literary community like the kidlit world, it’s logical
to discuss autistic representation in fiction. Autistic narrators have
been dubbed a trend, and however cringe-worthy that designation may
be–more on that later this month!–it’s true that there has been a minor
explosion in “autism books” over the past decade. Autistic narrators.
Autistic siblings. Autistic best friends. Sometimes those
characters’ autism plays a central role, sometimes not.

In all cases, it’s worth discussing. Representation, as we
all know, has a huge effect on readers. Good effects, bad effects.
Mirrors and windows."

"50% of this Enigma’s sales for the month of April will be donated to the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN),
an organization which the Autism community collectively would like you
to be aware of, and to support- instead of Autism Speaks (learn why!).

The
Autistic Self Advocacy Network seeks to advance the principles of the
disability rights movement with regard to autism. ASAN believes that the
goal of autism advocacy should be a world in which Autistic people
enjoy the same access, rights, and opportunities as all other citizens.
We work to empower Autistic people across the world to take control of
our own lives and the future of our common community, and seek to
organize the Autistic community to ensure our voices are heard in the
national conversation about us.

Autism Acceptance and Awareness Day App Sales!

[image description: a light brown
cartoon owl with its right wing raised,
under the words "Proloquo2Go
50% off on Autism Acceptance Day
~April 2]

From Proloquo2Go's parent company, Assistiveware:

"April is Autism Acceptance Month, and more specifically, April 2 is
Autism Acceptance Day! No, this is not a typo. We are shifting from
autism awareness to autism acceptance. We need a positive change!"

[Image description: a 12x6 grid of icons with small text labels above each]

"LAMP Words For Life™ is a full English vocabulary augmentative and
alternative communication (AAC) language app that combines the power of
the PRC Unity® language system with Language Acquisition through Motor
Planning (LAMP™) principles and strategies. LAMP™ is a therapeutic
approach based on neurological and motor learning principles as well as
clinical experiences that address the language development and
communication needs of children with autism. "

[image description: a stylized photo of a light-skinned child
with brown hair pinching the cheeks of a similar child,
surrounded by three cartoon characters, above the words
"When people are happy they smile.
Here is my happy face!"]